


Uncovering Tinfoil

by deathbymusic, TurtleVale



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon Rewrite, Drama, Romance, Season/Series 04, Snark, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:14:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29832399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathbymusic/pseuds/deathbymusic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurtleVale/pseuds/TurtleVale
Summary: It's a new year as the Scoobies have graduated high school. Some have moved on to college as others have found the misery of working a day to day job. Old enemies and allies return, while a new threat hangs in the air for all of them. Can the Scoobies join forces against this threat when one of their own is kidnapped? Or will trusting each other prove to be too much?
Relationships: Angel/Buffy Summers, Cordelia Chase/Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Daniel "Oz" Osbourne & Spike, Daniel "Oz" Osbourne/Willow Rosenberg, Riley Finn/Buffy Summers, Spike/Buffy Summers, Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris/Anya Jenkins
Kudos: 9





	1. New School/Same Scoobs

The sun shined brightly down upon the busy campus of the University of California. People of all ages walked from building to building carrying on with their respective goals. Some late teens had already gathered under a tree for a session of hacky sack. Others had decided to disrupt the flow of traffic with their speeding skateboards. One cluster of elderly people were being aided by campus administrators in finding the appropriate buildings.

In the parking lot of one of the dormitories a rented u-haul pulled up into a parking space. The ever spectacled Rupert Giles climbed out of the driver seat. Xander Harris made his way out from the front passenger side. Both circled around to the back of the vehicle, unlatched the door, and slid it open to reveal its contents.

Buffy, Willow, and Oz, who were all already on campus for the tour and were expecting the u-haul, spotted the two pull up. They all rushed over to help out. 

“Giles, we really can’t thank you enough for agreeing to do this.” Buffy said as she closed the distance between them and threw her arms around Giles in a tight hug.

“What kind of former Watcher would I be if I couldn’t help my Slayer move into her dorm room?” he replied with his soft endearing voice.

“Really though Buffster, with your strength do you really need all of us here to tote your stuff?” Xander asked with a half joking smirk.

“Hey just because she can lift it all by herself doesn’t mean we should make her do it all alone. That would be just rude.” Willow chimed in as she let go of Oz’s hand and climbed up into the back of the truck.

Bag by bag and piece of furniture by piece of furniture the team spent the next couple of hours unloading the u-haul and bringing all of Buffy’s and Willow’s belongings into their dorm room. Willow was very particular about the placement of her bed, night stand, and dresser. Meanwhile it seemed that Buffy couldn't care less about where her things wound up.

“Oz I’m sure we could have made room for your things in the truck too. Where’s your dorm at anyways?” Xander couldn’t help but ask as they set down the mini fridge.

“Oh I’m not attending classes this semester. Too many gigs lined up with the band.” Oz said in his usual laid back demeanor.

“Really? Enough gigs to pay the bills?” Xander asked in a sincere manner.

“Yep. You wouldn’t believe it, we had twelve entire people watching our last show.”

“Hey that’s three more than the show before!” Willow exclaimed as reassuring as she could muster.

“Oh yeah babe, you’re dating an up and coming superstar.” 

Willow chuckled and the two embraced with a playful kiss.

“Well,” Giles began as he cleaned his glasses for the sixth time since they began unpacking “after all of this labor I’m positive that you four are quite hungry. I saw a diner near the campus on our way in. Let’s all treat ourselves to a well earned meal.”

“Food sounds fantastic, but I’m not sure we can afford it.” Buffy said letting the second half of the statement diminish into being barely audible.

“Oh nonsense Buffy, of course this is going to be my treat. After all, you'll still need to go on patrol tonight despite starting your new courses tomorrow morning.” Giles replied with a beaming smile.

“Such is the life of being the chosen one, but hey I’m never gonna complain to a free meal.”

The five of them left Buffy and Willow’s dorm room, locking the door behind them. Adventuring out into the campus grounds as a group made things feel less intimidating, at least to Buffy. It was surprisingly a pleasantly warm stroll across the campus. They didn’t rush. They took the time to take in the lush verdant green lawns, and the pristine fountains. The college had a polished look, the students that sprawled throughout however did not. They had baggy clothes, and some of the older ones were even wearing pajamas out. They moved about at a slow pace, and seemed to slink down into their environments. Since classes hadn’t yet begun Buffy thought maybe it was just moving in day grogginess. Still, she had to wonder, did becoming a college student turn you into some kind of slob zombie? She shivered at the thought, and hoped that wouldn’t be her in the next few months. 

As they walked across the street Willow caught something out of the corner of her vision. Sitting down leaned up against a tree, with a book in her lap sat a girl. She looked to be near her age. Her pale skin and straight, brown hair that almost covered her face held Willow’s gaze. She fell behind the others as they continued their stroll, oblivious to her slowed steps. After what could have been seconds or even minutes the girl looked up from her book and saw Willow. It was at that moment Willow realized she had been staring. She blushed, the girl returned the blush, and both awkwardly looked away. 

“Will, you okay?” Oz called out from the group who was now a solid thirty feet ahead of her.

“Oh, yeah I’m fine! Sorry!” she responded as she hurried ahead to catch up.

After another ten minutes of walking, and only a little complaining coming from Xander, the group made it to their destination. The Campus Diner, a popular spot for any college kids needing food outside the cafeteria. At least that’s what their brochures had told them.  
Being that it was two in the afternoon the diner had very little customers sitting inside, so the Scoobies were able to take their pick of seating. They gravitated to one of the booths along the walls.

The floor had a slight stickiness to it that caught their shoes as they walked. Unidentifiable stains could be seen along the walls and ceiling. The smell of coffee dominated the air supply. One of the few patrons even let out a phlegm filled cough.

“Welp, we better get used to this interior Will. Something tells me most of our meals will be coming from here.” Buffy said as she wrinkled her nose.

“It has a charm to it. Right, Giles?” Willow said trying to sound more upbeat than she was feeling.

“Oh yes, it’s exactly the earthy roots feeling you want when you’re away from home.” Giles stammered out as he set his elbows on the table surface then quickly removed them.

“Earthy roots is a pretty good way of putting it.” Xander quipped.

Five menus were slid down in front of them in an abrupt manner

“Hey, welcome to the Campus Diner. What can I get you to drink?” the voice that let all of that slide out of her mouth was obviously tired and half hearted.

“Cordelia?” Buffy asked as she looked up from the menu to see the poor sounding lady who was beginning to serve them.

She had a slightly slouched posture. Her hair, while usually fabulous and near flawless, was now in a slapdash hair tie and in messy tangles. She had not bothered to apply any make up. Stains from a few different sources decorated her waitress uniform. Her expression at being noticed grew wide eyed and fearful from having to be seen this way.

“Oh, it’s all of you. Just my luck.” Cordelia droned out of her exhausted mouth.

“Cordie, what are you doing waiting tables?” Xander asked, looking about the group in an almost nervous manner.

Cordie knew he was feigning ignorance for her sake, but she honestly didn’t have time for the act. She was too tired and quite frankly embarrassed, so instead she snapped at him. “I would really rather not talk about it, Zeppo. Now please just get on with your order. I’m working a double today and I don’t have time for…. 'Pleasantries'."

“Oh, yeah of course.” Willow said in an attempt to smooth things over.

Clearly feeling the tense weirdness all five of them quickly placed their orders. Cordelia rapidly and sloppily wrote them down on her paper pad. It was clear she wanted to eagerly get away from them just as much as they wanted to get away from the awkward situation. 

“Comin’ right up.” She barely said once they finished and she walked over to the counter where she put in her order.

As the gang watched her move throughout the diner, topping off people’s drinks and cleaning up after the customers who had left, they couldn’t help but be filled with a sense of pity.

“I didn’t think we would ever see her working a day in her life.” Buffy said quietly.

“Something must be wrong.” Giles added.

“Of course something’s wrong, she didn’t even act happy to see us. Oh right...it’s Cordie, she’s never happy to see anyone unless it’s a mirror.” Xander joked.

“No Xander, Giles means there must be something going on in her life for her to be waitressing in the first place.” Willow explained.

“Oh….yeah….that makes sense.” Xander said, but he seemed distant. Willow usually was able to read much of Xander’s faces. There was his thinking face, which was usually kind of scrunched up. Then there was his ‘I’m pretending to listen to you but I’m actually just nodding and smiling’ face. His angry face, his pouty face, his attempt at puppy dog eyes face. But this face he was making was different from all of those. It almost seemed like his worried face, which seemed odd to Willow. Was he actually worried about Cordie? They did date, so it’s possible. But, something else seemed off. Just as she was about to ask though Oz jumped in. 

“Wasn’t she saying she was going to move out to LA and try acting? Whatever happened to that?” 

“Our dream jobs rarely play out the way we expect them to.” Giles said as he turned his gaze out towards the nearby window.

The others let that last statement hang in the air. They couldn’t help but wonder about their goals not going as planned. Those of them that even had concrete goals, that is.

Once delivered, they ate their meals and made idle chit chat. Occasionally laughing at something Xander had said. In between taking orders Cordelia watched on. A grimace slowly overtaking her face. Life was unfair. She was not supposed to be here doing peasants’ work. Her life was destined for that of stardom. Instead her legs ached, her hair was a mess, and she had an ever present headache. She stifled a growl as she watched the Scoobies enjoying themselves. Why did they get to be so happy?

Her shift continued on, and she had to give away her focus on the group to more pressing matters. Like cleaning and stocking to get ready for the night crowd. She barely registered who it was coming to the counter to pay the bill, before it was too late. The rest of the scoobies had walked outside to wait on Giles as he stood before the cash register. Cordelia reluctantly approached him and began tallying the order.

“That’ll be $37.88 Giles.” She said as plainly as she could, trying to hide any other feelings she was having.

Giles dug out his wallet and handed her a hundred dollar bill. As she began to work out the math and take out the change, Giles gently placed his hands over hers to stop her.

“No, Cordelia. Please keep the change.” He said with a smile.

“But…..but that’s over fifty bucks in a tip!” Cordelia exclaimed as the rest of the staff snapped their heads over in their direction. Those snoopy vultures. 

“I am keenly aware.” He replied simply.

“Giles, you…..you can’t.” Cordie was at a loss for words.

“I believe that I can. And I believe I know when someone is struggling. Please take care of yourself, Cordelia.” He said softly.

Giles gave Cordelia one more smile before turning and rejoining the others outside. Cordelia was left with her mouth agape and cash in her hands.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the sun had set Buffy as usual took up her nightly duties. She strolled through the low hanging mist that accompanied the graveyard. Her eyes darted back and forth, scanning over every headstone. Waiting and waiting for the sound of erupting earth.

Come on hurry up vamps, I need to get some actual shut eye before my first day of college, Buffy thought to herself. Boredom had already begun to settle in. She sat on a nearby marble bench and began whistling.

“Ohhhh vampires I’m all alone in this dark graveyard. Come and get your drink on.” She practically sang out in the hopes of hurrying along her job.

Cordelia’s job looked like hell, but at least it had set hours. She knew when she had to clock in, and she knew when she had to clock out. Buffy on the other hand had no clue when it was next going to be Slay’o’clock.

Just then movement caught her eyes. Buffy sat upright on the bench and strained her vision to focus on the movement. A figure dressed in leathers and wearing a biker helmet was walking through the graveyard. The form looked masculine, maybe a small man, but male still. Buffy watched his movements and could see he bore a stake in his left hand, and a hand crossbow in his right.

Well whoever he is he definitely means business, she thought to herself.

Another blur of movement streaked across Buffy’s field of vision. It happened so fast. Another figure ran through the graveyard and tackled the helmeted man. A shrill yelp emanated from him. The figure on top was also dressed in black, had pale skin, and then the signature bumps formed across the forehead. Fangs made themselves seen poking out of his hissing mouth. Yep totally a vampire.

Buffy ran over to throw herself into the fray. Before she got there though the helmeted man had already rolled the vampire off of him and scrambled to his feet. Buffy could swear that she heard him frantically muttering something to himself. He raised his crossbow and fired. The bolt went streaking past the vampire and skidded off an adjacent tombstone. The helmeted man raised his stake and lunged. The vampire simply backhanded the stake out of his hand, and then punched him in the gut sending him doubled over in pain. The biker helmet slid easily off while he was bent over.

“Ahem,” Buffy began by clearing her throat “if you two boys are finished with your homo erotic tussling I’d very much like to show you how it’s done.”

The vampire whirled around and hissed at Buffy.  
“Slayer! You will rue the day you….”

“Yeah yeah yeah buddy I’ve heard it all before. Look man you don’t even have a name tag. I have no idea who you are and you’re not gonna be that vamp that bests me. Got it?”

“Why you arrogant little piece of….”

“Hey! Watch your language mister. Now save yourself the struggle and come walk chest first into Mr. Pointy. Kay?”

The nameless vampire let out an infuriated growl as he ran towards Buffy. She loved it when she could piss them off. It always threw them off their game. She was able to deftly step to the left and leave her foot out just a bit, tripping the vampire and sending him tumbling into the dirt. He jumped up to his feet, wiped the dirt from his face, and let out another howl of impotent rage. Though the howl was cut off mid scream as Buffy plunged her stake into his heart.

The vampire glanced down, a moment passing for him to take in what just happened. “You have got to be fu…” the vampires words ended prematurely as his form dusted.

“Again, fowl language will get you nowhere.” Buffy said with a satisfied smirk to the now pile of dust.

She turned back to the man who was bent over retrieving his biker helmet.

“You seriously could have gotten yourself killed, you know that?” Buffy said as she approached him.  
He looked up and Buffy was surprised to see a familiar spectacled face.

“Wesley? What the hell are you doing out here?” she asked with an indignant tone.

“Hello Buffy,” Wesley awkwardly dusted himself off as she approached. “It’s been quite some time.”

“Try a few months,” Buffy crossed her arms, waiting for him to still answer her question.

“Yes, well if you must know, since being removed from the Watcher organization I have made myself a premier rogue demon hunter.” Wesley said as he proudly placed his hands on his hip.

Buffy couldn’t contain a chuckle, causing Wesley to deflate.

"I fail to see what's so humorous."

"Listen, maybe you should get outta here before the next vamp makes their move." 

Buffy turned to continue her patrol for the evening. She was surprised when Wesley ran to catch her by the shoulder. He immediately withdrew his hand when he saw her reflexive glare. 

"Apologies! But please wait just a moment. Something isn't quite right." Wesley said as his eyes darted back and forth. 

"Well yeah, you were out here all by yourself trying to take down a vampire. Next time get in touch with one of us, okay?" 

"I mean aside from the vampire!" Wesley exclaimed and clasped his hands together.

He began to fidget and Buffy's eyes widened as she honed her vision in on his frantic finger movements. She also began to notice the glistening beginning to form across his forehead. Sweat. Wesley was sweating from nervousness. 

"Okay, take a breath and tell me what's going on."

"I was tracking that vampire," Wesley gestured to the fresh pile of dust, "but then he began to run. He had noticed something in the tree line that startled him." 

"And?"

"And? What do you mean and? Something caused a vampire to run for its life. I lost track of it for a time then wound up here. Buffy, he was retreating back to his lair."

Once again a chuckle escaped Buffy's throat and Wesley threw his hands up in the air in a bout of frustration. 

"Wesley, there are other demons out and about all the time. Me and the gang always wind up dealing with them. So no worries. Go home and brew some tea…..drink some scotch? Whatever it is that settles your tizzies."

Buffy started walking away again, but grew more annoyed when she realized that Wesley was trailing after her.

"Buffy! It looked like people." 

"Lots of demons can look like people. Vampires look like people. This isn't news." 

"I don't think they were demons. They were wearing some form of camouflage and were wielding rifles as if they were…really organized." 

"Sounds more like some kids during a paintball game."

"Paintball? No Buffy I'm sure they…."

Buffy whirled on him, causing him to stumble just a bit to prevent bumping into her. “You aren't sure of anything. You just said so yourself. Now please I have more graveyard to cover and I'd prefer to do so alone."

"But…." Wesley trailed off as Buffy turned back, picking up the pace, and marched away. 

He let his arms slump to his sides. Though, maybe she was right. Maybe the vampire was afraid of something else. Maybe those people were just kids.  
But he couldn’t shake this sinking suspicion. He wasn’t sure he could let this go so easily, even if the Slayer could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow sorry everyone for the long wait! This is my second Buffy fic and I'm so excited to be posting this new story. With having to make the move to this neighborhood I didn't know if I was ever going to be able to start posting it. I had some help from deathbymusic, I hate to be so far away from them now, but nice to know we can still work on this together.


	2. Fresh Eyes and Stale Eyes

Most of the next day was spent becoming acquainted with the campus. Buffy was just in time for each of her classes. The fact that she wasn't late allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief. 

When noon finally rolled around Buffy rejoined Willow at the cafeteria for lunch. It was the first time since early morning that she had even seen her, seeing as they didn't share any of the same courses. Willow was ever the over achiever, meanwhile Buffy had yet to settle on a major. 

They gathered their meals, exemplary culinary arts by comparison to Sunnydale High, and sat at the nearest unoccupied table. Just then it hit Buffy how large their high school clique had grown at one point. Xander, Cordelia, Oz, and even Giles would sit with Buffy and Willow during lunch. Now, it was just the two of them and it felt empty without the others. 

"Goodness I cannot go on enough about my philosophy class!" Willow exclaimed in an assault of nerdy satisfaction. 

"Oh yeah? I'm just proud I made it to all of my classes on time. It's too easy to get lost at this place." Buffy said as her tired eyes scanned the surrounding crowd. 

"You'll get used to it. If anyone could it would be the Slayer."

"I'm not so sure. I don't think Slayers have mapping out college campuses in their list of powers." 

"Buffy you get used to walking around graveyards and back alleys at night. Nearly getting lost on campus won't be an everyday thing for long."

"Will, your optimism is ever infectious." Buffy told her with a smile. 

Willow couldn't help but return the smile, but she noticed Buffy was instead looking past her now. A particular expression overtook Buffy's face. Willow knew that look, it's how she looked at Angel. She whirled her head around and began scanning for the brood machine and was confused when she couldn't see him. 

"Soooo that wall over there has a pretty even paint job, eh?" Willow asked as she turned back towards the spacing out Buffy. 

"Huh?"

"The wall…..that you're staring at." Willow explained.

"Oh! Yeah sure…."

Buffy's eyes were now in motion with the same locked enchanted expression written on her face. Willow followed Buffy's gaze. They eventually landed another group of students, and that's when she saw him.  
Tall, muscular physique, nice crop of hair adorning a face with a well defined jawline and high cheekbones. Of course Buffy was staring, most any girl would be. 

"Ohhhh, it's not the wall." Willow said with a sing-songy tone and a smirk. 

"Hmm? Oh no….the wall….is very wall like….solid and all." Buffy had yet to take her eyes off of the mysterious, handsome boy this entire time. 

"Buffy!" Willow clapped her hands in front of Buffy's face. 

"Oh hey sorry! What were we talking about?"

"Oh ya know….about how obviously attracted you are to that dreamy guy over there." 

"Which guy?" Buffy asked with a high pitched indignant tone.

"The one you've been staring at!" Willow exclaimed as she lightly shoved Buffy's shoulder. 

"Oh please….so was not staring." Buffy scoffed as she looked down and poked at her food. 

"It's been several months Buffy." 

"Since when?"

"Since….you know….Angel." Willow hesitated to say and she immediately regretted it. 

It was the name they had abstained from saying all summer long. Anytime the conversation grew Angel adjacent they would nervously shift the talk in a radically different direction. Willow felt a plummeting sensation in the pit of her stomach as the air grew tense. Waiting for Buffy’s reaction felt like an eternity.

"Yep….suppose it has." Buffy finally muttered, breaking the tension. 

Willow couldn't help but mentally breathe a sigh of relief. 

"So? Go to talk to that boy." Willow prodded now that the ground seemed stable enough to tread. 

"I…..I don't know, Will." Buffy said taking occasional glances at said boy out of the corner of her eye. 

"If you don't go introduce yourself then I'll be forced to take drastic measures." Willow told her confidently as she crossed her arms. 

Buffy cut her eyes over to Willow. Willow flinched. She had only ever seen this particular expression on Buffy's face when she was staring down a target of the Slay variety. Willow gulped. 

"What kind of drastic we talking here?" She looked at Willow, eyes scanning her over, sizing her up. . 

"Well….I'll…. I'll….. I'll just go over….and I'll point you out to him myself." Willow stammered out and punctuated with a nod. 

"Oh will you now?" Buffy squinted her eyes and cocked her head to the side. 

"Y... yes….you need some smooches...and no smooches can be possible without talking to new boys."

Buffy let that last threat hang in the air as she digested Willow's words. She had a point. It had been enough time since Angel. Maybe. The guy was cute, to undersell him. Also Buffy did have needs. 

"Okay Will," Buffy crossed her arms to mirror Willow. 

"Okay? Okay you'll go talk to him? Or...okay you won’t talk to him?" Willow asked unsure if she was actually successful in intimidating her friend. 

Buffy gave a challenging smirk, not backing down, "Nope. You're gonna go talk to him, and point me out. Just like you said." 

Willow’s eyes widened with immediate regret. To be fair, she should have known that intimidating Buffy wouldn’t work out well for her. Willow glanced between the boy and Buffy. No backing down now. This was a new Willow. College Willow. And College Willow could do things like this, especially for her friend. Willow met her eyes with Buffy, a new air of confidence in her.  
She stood abruptly, nearly knocking her tray off the table. And okay, that did diminish her confidence just a bit. She noticed a few people glance their way, but she quickly played it off like nothing had even happened. Willow started her way over to where this cute boy was sitting. Buffy's eyes grew wide and her mouth parted. Calling Will on her bluff had the adverse effect. What was she doing?

"Oh shit…"

Willow wound her way through the labyrinth of tables and chairs occupied by the other students. She was on a mission. The big bad Slayer had thought she could frighten Willow into staying put. That kind of tactic might have worked on high school Willow, but college Willow was practically a brand new woman. She nearly tripped over a chair as a guy backed away from the table he was sitting at. Okay, maybe not brand new, but still far more courageous. 

"Hello there fellow student!" Willow called out to the cute boy when she made it. 

Fellow student? What the hell was she thinking? This guy is going to think she's weird and not want anything to do with Buffy. This was a bad idea, just lean into the weirdness and dance away from this situation. Maybe you'll get some laughs to ease your embarrassment.  
All of these thoughts raged through Willow's mind like a hailstorm. 

"Well hello, nice to hear such enthusiasm from someone around here. I'm so used to everyone being bleak and miserable. I mean I get it, college has that effect on people, but this is refreshing." Mystery boy’s response shocked Willow from her internal meltdown.

"Right? Not everything is so dismal and dreary. Sometimes being your own source of sunshine is enough to lighten your mood. Am I right?" Willow nervously prattled off trying to sound natural. 

"Of course you are, I'm Riley by the way." 

"Oh right, introductions of course. Willow, my name's Willow."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Willow."

"But I really came over to introduce you to my friend," Willow began as she looked back to where Buffy was seated, and pointed her out to Riley. 

"Oh? Usually introductions work better when you're within talking distance." 

"Oh yeah...of course….well she didn't actually think I would come over here. So to show her up would you mind going over there and talking to her?" 

Riley looked over at Buffy contemplating. Buffy was looking back at him, they made eye-contact for a split second before Buffy immediately turned away. She tried to make herself look like she was just casually eating. Except...her body language felt awkward. What did she usually look like when she ate? And why had she never realized that she slouched so much? 

Riley gave a smile while watching her, "Sure thing, Willow, that's not a problem."

He stood and began making strides over to where Buffy was seated. Buffy stole a glance and noticed him approaching her. She saw from behind him Willow was sticking her tongue out a childish way, as if saying “take that!” 

Son of a bitch, she did it, Buffy thought to herself.

"Your friend Willow said you kinda dared her to ask me to introduce myself to you?" Riley said ever so slightly confused about the whole ordeal. 

"Hi...yes. I suppose I did, but I never thought she'd actually do it." 

The two shared a laugh. 

"My name's Buffy by the way."

"Nice to meet you, even if it is under such odd pretenses. I'm Riley." 

They exchanged smiles, and a moment of awkward silence passed between them. 

Buffy felt the need to say something, anything, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was like the words were suddenly stuck in her throat, unable to escape. Suddenly the embarrassment and lameness of the entire situation overtook her. Who dares their friend to ask a guy to introduce himself? This guy probably thought she was a complete weirdo. She felt her cheeks flush, and instead of trying to save the moment she instead abruptly stood from her chair.

"Well I better get a head start making it to my next class…" She barely looked at him as she nudged past him, and practically started to run away. 

"Maybe I'll see you around?" Riley called after her, looking a bit confused at her sudden departure. 

"Yeah," Buffy stole one more glance at him, noticing his eyes as they stared intently at her. They were piercing and searching in a way, like she was some secret code he wanted to understand at that moment, "Definitely maybe."

She continued her escape out of the cafeteria. Definitely maybe? What the hell does that even mean? Buffy couldn't help but applaud Willow though, that was a huge step for her to take. Too bad Buffy just tarnished it with an abrupt departure and "definitely maybe". 

This was such a disaster, what was she even thinking? A normal college boy is the last thing she should be focusing on. She already had Willow and Xander and her mother to take care of. She knew how these kinds of things went. Even with the mayor gone, another baddie was just going to take his place. It was only a matter of time before some new end-of-the-world threat would come rolling into town. 

Still, she couldn’t get his beautiful hazel eyes out of her mind. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the classes passed by in a blur. Buffy and Willow found themselves back in their dorm room. Willow though had taken a break from studying to have a chat over the phone with Oz. Buffy didn't mind. She sat near her window, books sprawled open across her bed. She leaned over and clicked on her bedside lamp as the sun finally set. She had to get as much study time in before her patrol started. 

Unbeknownst to the girls though, a tall trench coat wearing figure stood outside their window. The night sky making it difficult to see his form against the blackness. His gaze was set on Buffy who was lit by her lamp and appeared to be looking over some textbooks. He knew he needed to keep his distance, for her own good, but he couldn't help but make sure she was adjusting to college life alright. It wasn’t selfish, at least that's what he told himself. 

A crunching of grass nearby snapped him out of his thoughts before he would really dwell on his true meaning for being there. Another black clad figure was making their way through the campus grounds. This one bore platinum blonde hair. 

"Angel? The hell are you doin' out here? Thought you'd be snogging your Slayer by now." Spike's voice cut through the night in a sharp manner.

Angel reeled back, Spike was the last person he expected to see around here. Hell, to even see him around Sunnydale at all. Angel kept his senses alert, if Spike was around Druisilla might not be far behind. 

"What are you even doing here, Spike?" Angel asked, sounding indifferent despite being on his toes.

"Oh nothin’. Out for a stroll really." 

Angel drew himself closer to Spike, towering over him ever so slightly. “What are you doing in Sunnydale, and where’s Dru?”

Spike wasn’t easily intimidated though, and instead rummaged through his trench coat, pulled out a pack of smokes, and began to light one. “Ahhh, you know how our Dru gets. What are you doin’ out here broodin’ for, hm?” 

Of course he had avoided the real question. Still Angel knew something wasn’t right. Spike and Dru being apart wasn’t abnormal. The last time Spike saw him, he and Dru had gotten into it. But he knew better than to show back up in Sunnydale, he wouldn’t have come for nothing. So what was it?

Spike glanced over Angel’s shoulder and peered into the dorm window as well. He shouldered his way past Angel, barely taking notice of the other vampire’s annoyance. 

"Yep, I see what you see in her. Physically speaking anyways. Bout the same beauty as my Dru." 

Like a bolt of lightning, Angel turned and shoved Spike to the ground. 

"You are by no means allowed to talk about her that way." Angel growled out as he stood over Spike. 

Spike chortled. 

"And you are by no means allowed to tell me what I can or can't do. Whirlwind's over, has been for a while. Therefore, you ain't the boss of me, so sod off." Spike shot back up to his feet, “You know what I find interesting though? You’re out here, and the Slayer’s in there.” Spike gave a smug smile, “Lover’s quarrel then?”

Angel cracked a smile, “You would know all about that, huh Spike?”

Spike closed the distance between the two and Angel gritted his teeth. They both clinched their fists, fangs ready to come out as they anticipated a clash about to commence. 

A flashlight shined over the two of them. The sudden light made them flinch, as they squinted their eyes in its direction, trying to find the source. A portly and squat fellow dressed in a white button up shirt tucked into black slacks and badge that read "Campus Security" was the unfortunate soul wielding the flashlight.

"You two boys weren't about to swing at one another were ya?" He asked in a mocking tone. 

Angel and Spike backed away from each other. 

"No sir not us. We're good students." Spike quipped with a grin. 

Angel rolled his eyes.

"Well curfew is in full effect. So you two boys had best get to your dorms. Understood?" 

"Oh yes sir Mr. Security Guard." Spike practically sang out as he already started to back away. 

Angel simply turned and nodded to the campus security guard, but before he could whirl back around on Spike he was already gone. Like some ghost he had just evaporated. A twisting feeling churned inside Angel’s gut. Spike was back. Not only was he back, but he was definitely eyeing Buffy. Angel knew Spike well enough to know that he wouldn’t have come back without a plan. Whether Dru was with him or not, if he was here after her, or anyone else, it was his responsibility to stop it.

Angel made his way towards the dorms. He couldn’t let Buffy know he was still here, she couldn’t afford to be distracted. She had come so far, and seemed to be doing so well. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t help from afar. He could deal with Spike on his own. After all, he couldn’t very well leave now.

It wasn’t just an excuse, Angel tried to tell himself. He just needed to figure this out. So what if Spike just so happened to be another reason for him to stick around?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this new chapter! I've been out and about as much as I can right now. The stress of the move had been starting to feel overwhelming. This neighborhood has a park that is not too far off from where I live! Been going on nice walks there. This community must be pretty active cause I actually saw a lot of people walking around too. A few even talked to me! Some told me how they moved here a few months ago and already feel lighter just being here. If everyone is like this I hope to fit right in!


End file.
